November 5, 2010

“The primary purpose is to take a bunch of U.S. companies and open up markets so that we can sell in Asia, in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and we can create jobs here in the United States of America,” Mr. Obama told his cabinet Thursday, with the cameras rolling.

“My hope is, is that we’ve got some specific announcements that show the connection between what we’re doing overseas and what happens here at home when it comes to job growth and economic growth,” he said....

“On the trip that I’m about to take, I’m going to be talking about opening up additional markets in places like India, so that American businesses can sell more products abroad in order to create more jobs here at home,” Mr. Obama said.

If that's recasting the point of the trip, what was it previously supposed to be about? And whatever the original purpose, why didn't Obama figure out that this would be a good thing to say before the elections?

109 comments:

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a surface "tunnel" one km in length built just for this visit. Since I've got political fatigue currently, I've not read up on it. Why does one need an above-ground "tunnel"? I'm picturing something like the highway sides from Matrix III.

Obama didn't want to say anything about it before the elections, because the left was busy demonizing India.

In order to finally get the Korean Free Trade Agreement ratified, he needs the GOP to have power (and they have some now). Democrats have refused to ratify it for 3 years. So he probably didn't want to advertise that.

His wording about "opening up" markets in India is funny. American business is in India. He wants to widen it, perhaps.

What did he do to listen to the American businesses who will be at the conference before the trip? What does he know about what they need?Last I heard, he was going to try to tax many of these multinationals for money they make overseas.

If that's recasting the point of the trip, what was it previously supposed to be about? And whatever the original purpose, why didn't Obama figure out that this would be a good thing to say before the elections?

Rule #1 about Obama's statements is that they are pure lies. His Marxist soul has been trying to stop capitalism everywhere he can by refusing all beneficial trade deals. Capitalist wealth creation is Obama's enemy that he has fought all of his worthless life.

Capitalist wealth creation is Obama's enemy that he has fought all of his worthless life.

Speaking of wealth creation, why is it with all the bickering about not keeping the Bush tax rates for incomes over $250k, there is never, ever any mention of COL? $250k does not equal $250k across the length and breadth.

Maybee -- I remember the "Russia Poland India" commercial now. In the commercial Carly herself says she sent jobs over there, but she didn't say how many. It had the ring of an exaggeration more than a statement of facts, a la "I sent jobs to Timbuctoo."

One of the De Medici rulers of Florence built an above-ground tunnel from the Gritti Palace, where he lived, to the Palazzo Vecchio, where he worked, so he could walk to work. Not sure about the exact length, but a kilometer sounds possible.

Gee, I don't know. Let me think. India couldn't possibly have become a major ally in the past decade or something? FLS is right, though: the NYT is clueless as they almost always are.

But, based on reading some other threads, this story will fit right in with the version of reality that many commenters here have created. Quite a few appear to endorse suspending common sense, rudimentary logic and basic arithmetic to believe the trip costs $200 million per day, is accompanied by a flotilla of 34 warships with nothing better to do than hang around India, and that Obama personally demanded the removal of coconuts from trees.

P.S. The latest "reports" from India say the US military is digging a very long tunnel just so Obama can visit Ghandi's memorial. Make of it what you will. Judging by prior comments, some will make much of it, I'm sure.

why didn't Obama figure out that this would be a good thing to say before the elections?

Obama believes in his liberal dogma so blindly that he was willing to sacrifice Nancy.. or.. he just doesnt know any better? Is it possible that being the "first black president" Obama didnt have anybody telling him 'there is a naked emperor in the room'?

As someone who has always gotten things for nothing, Obama has never had to cede to anything resembling authority of any kind.

I predict that the voters will (as expressed in this 2010) will be of little to no consequence to the Obama administration.

Dear President Obama, as long as you're going over to India, would you mind saying hello to my job? I hope things are going well for it, and I miss it very much. Please let it know I'm still single and haven't gotten another one as I miss it very much, and I hope to see it come back one day. Oh, and please mention that I would have written it sooner, but I couldn't afford the stamps.

why didn't Obama figure out that this would be a good thing to say before the elections?

My guess is that in the past, Obama hasn't had to justify actions prior to being elected -- se just ran for an office, and was elected -- so it just didn't occur to him that something like that would help.

An alternative explanation is that his advisors are hopelessly myopic, probably from having DC air around their eyes too long.

Are we going to sell the Indians Chevy Volts? We don't make anything here (slight exagerration). People either work in the service economy or for the federal, state, and local government. The only way they could stimulate our economy is to take vacations here buy some fast food, gamble at our casinos, and get a hunting license. Hopefully enough of the Indian tourists will slip and fall at the casinos so we can keep the lawyers and judged employed.

What's funny about this is that those spreading the bogus $200 million figure - the tea party idiots - and complaining about outsourcing and factory-related issues in the U.S. are being useful idiots for the "Profits at Any Price" school: the very folks who support outsourcing. And, they don't even realize it: they think those who support "free trade" are on their side, even as they help send their jobs offshore.

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Unfortunately, I have to add this:

Because teapartiers are vile idiots (see the link) I have to point out that there's a 99% chance that any replies to this comment from 'partiers will be full of lies and smears. That's who they are and what they do. No teapartier has ever been able to present a valid, logical counter-argument to anything I've ever written. Instead, all they can do is lie and smear. That's part of the reason why I encouraged everyone to hold their noses and vote for every one of their opponents. And, I'm basing that on covering politics for over eight years in over 9000 posts. I have never seen a more malignant group than the teapartiers. See my site for all the details.

"Quite a few appear to endorse suspending common sense, rudimentary logic and basic arithmetic to believe the trip costs $200 million per day, is accompanied by a flotilla of 34 warships with nothing better to do than hang around India, and that Obama personally demanded the removal of coconuts from trees."

Possibly the actual behaviors of both Obamas and the MSM's unwillingness to cover them the way they would go after, say, a Tea Party candidate, make it easy to believe such things might be true.

If the MSM were to ever get back [if they were ever truly there] to reporting equally on both parties and all ideologies fewer people would be believe the weird stuff.

[I mean, John Edwards couldn't possibly be cheating on his dying wife, could he?]

“Making an argument that people can understand,” Mr. Obama continued, “I think that we haven’t always been successful at that. And I take personal responsibility for that. And it’s something that I’ve got to examine carefully … as I go forward.”

Before the election, the message was all about those nasty big businesses that are outsourcing and taking our jobs and going overseas. That is a powerfully scary message to a good portion of Americans.

Post election, the message is that he heard the voters when they said they were primarily concerned about the economy. Then with a little bit of political magic and help from the NYT's, "economy" is defined down to mean "jobs", and Obama is going to India to get some for us! Dammit, we're going to make our own products and SELL them to emerging markets!

No mention about the Fed's quantitative easing which will lower the value of the dollar, making it easier for us to export. No need to confuse the masses with a lesson in economics.

The India trip will be interesting, but his G20 meeting in Korea will be the one to watch.

I think the President is just about the last person I would ever send to drum up business. What is he going to say: "Hey bring you business to the Good Old USA. I have a whole bunch of new taxes and regulations and stuff for you. It's gonna be awesome."

Are we going to sell the Indians Chevy Volts? We don't make anything here (slight exagerration).

It isn't a "slight exagerration", it is "totally incorrect". The United States is, depending on how you analyze it, either #1 or #2 in manufacturing output. Let me phrase that another way: out of the 195 countries in the world, at least 193 build less stuff than us.

I'm not going to play "gotcha" with Obama. I think free trade is a good thing. If Indians and Chinese can do stuff cheaper, we should buy things from them. Americans can find other jobs. The money that is saved by buying stuff cheaper will provide those other jobs.

If Obama really does put together some kind of trade agreement, good for him.

..it was very thrilling to watch the Guy go up in flames and to wonder darkly how things would proceed with an actual person there. You had to have a Guy on your bonfire. The only place that didn't was St. Peter's School in York, alma mater of the actual Guido Fawkes, where it was felt that burning an alumnus in effigy showed poor school spirit.

“The primary purpose is to take a bunch of U.S. companies and open up markets so that we can sell in Asia, in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and we can create jobs here in the United States of America,”

So, Obama's goal is to convert the United States into a third world export nation selling goods to economically expanding parts of the world like China and India.

Good luck with that. With Union Wages and Pensions hanging like an anchor around the necks of businesses, expensive job killing health insurance mandates, highest corporate taxes, purposely deflating our dollar and the determination to pass rerictive energy policy, there is no way that we can be competetive in the world markets.

..it was very thrilling to watch the Guy go up in flames and to wonder darkly how things would proceed with an actual person there. You had to have a Guy on your bonfire. The only place that didn't was St. Peter's School in York, alma mater of the actual Guido Fawkes, where it was felt that burning an alumnus in effigy showed poor school spirit.

Make laws that force people to buy the electricity; hydro and nuclear of course do not count as "green", or else the law would have been unnecessary as Washington pretty much ONLY has hydro and nuclear.

Q: Is wind power subsidized?A: The Steel Winds plant sells its power to energy buyers at market prices just like any other power plant.

The Steel Winds project does not benefit from any project specific subsidy or legislation. Like all other energy projects (including coal, nuclear, oil and gas) wind energy does qualify for accelerated depreciation of the investment dollars used to build the plant. In addition, wind energy plants in the US also qualify for a federal tax credit based on the actual production of pollution free energy after startup.

The wind industry is subsidized, but not nearly as much as the coal, oil, nuclear, and natural gas industries. Historically, the energy industry has been subsidized as a means of ensuring that the country has adequate and reliable supplies of energy. The largest subsidies, however, go to coal, oil, nuclear and natural gas fuels and generation.

The National Commission on Energy Policy found a low-end estimate for federal energy subsidies in 2003 to be $37 billion to $64 billion. Total wind energy subsidy payments in that same year are estimated at $155 million - well under one percent of the federal energy subsidy total.

If people think we can keep consuming increasing amounts of fossil fuels without consequence, you're in for a rude shock.

The long term direct cost of fossil fuels will go up as resources become more scarce, more in demand and from increasingly expensive places.

The cost of all these wars to keep oil flowing is already too high for my tastes. We are already too reliant on despots and terror funders. "We are funding both sides of the war on terror."

It used to be that renewable energy was supported by people of all political stripes, as a way to get energy independent. It is truly sad that conservatives demand we maintain our addiction to fossil fuels.

But there have been endless studies on how various energy types are subsidized. National Research Council did a study on this, I believe.

Yes, all are subsidized. But the whole point is that some kinds of power are subsidized hundreds of times more than others, on a per-watt basis.

Again, like garage, your fallacy is the same as saying that the price of gas is the same if you buy 10 gallons at $5 per gallon and if you buy 5 at $10 per gallon. You paid the same MONEY, but you didn't pay the same PRICE.

Of course people who rely on corporate welfare will do their best to blur the distinction.

The government only paid me $10,000 for the gallon of polymer nitrogen fuel I made. I'm getting fewer subsidies than anyone! We should convert to polymer nitrogen right away and save money.

What's wrong with nuclear and hydro? Republicans like myself who take climate change seriously are demanding more of that, as opposed to wind farms, which only displace hydro and don't provide any net green power.

Okay, there were people saying it YESTERDAY. A FEW MINUTES AGO, when you told us all we were LIARS SPREADING LIES, the story had already been widely debunked and no one HERE is sticking to it, SPREADING THEIR LYING LIES.

In fact, I never even HEARD the story until AFTER it had been debunked.

AlphaLiberal, the video is a parody for pete's sake. And why would I believe anything the WH said? Maybe it's even more; maybe it's 199 million. No one is ever going to know, but there's one thing for sure: it's TOO DAMN MUCH.

a foreign affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the US-India Business Council

The US-India Business Council is a second-order affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce -- the AmCham of India is one of the USIBC's many partners. I posted a list here the other day. My favorite USIBC partner is The Indus Entrepreneurs.

Given Barack's taste in wives, $200,000,000 per day sounds downright reasonable. Because Michelle wants reparations and she's goin' ta get'em one way or t'other.

Meanwhile, I wish I was in Mumbai to witness their grandiose entrance. I want to be there with the urchins to behold the majesty of the living god. Alighting from clouds of silver wings higher than Mahatma Gandhi. And like the parable of the loaves, on the full faith and credit of Visa and American Express. Processed and authorized by slumdog millionaires.

Oh I dunno...the left is still trying to pedal the story that Trig is Bristol's son...so pretty much anything goes by your rules.

BTW- try reading a Milblog or two and you'll find out that the 7th Fleet is anchored in Yokosuka and is tasked to the junket. That means the ops are already on budget and a given number of ships are on station protecting the Indian Ocean shipping lanes and the Korean Peninsula.

It's laughable that you suddenly consider the Pentagon a reliable source of information and this is not a definitive statement by any means:

“I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion that somehow we were deploying 10 percent of the Navy — some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier — in support of the president’s trip to Asia,” said Morrell at today’s Pentagon briefing. “That’s just comical. Nothing close to that is being done.”…

I'd take that statement with a grain of salt given that the 7th has 50–60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

You might also be interested to learn about about Task Force 70.

TF 70 is the Battle Force of 7th Fleet and is actually made up of two distinct components: Surface Combatant Force 7th Fleet, composed of cruisers and destroyers, and Carrier Strike Force 7th Fleet, made up of at least one aircraft carrier and its embarked air wing. The Battle Force is currently centered around the carrier USS George Washington and Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5).

So while Indian tabs may or may not be making shit up...we have a substantial forward force in place.

Plus media speculation about military deployments isn't exactly news either..or have you forgotten the "when will the ground war begin" hysteria and the speculation about MOABs being deployed in Afghanistan.

Actually, thanks to the voters, we will know the cost of Obama's trip next year.

The windmill factory in Pipestone, MN, is closing down. they have windmills already built, but nobody is buying. If the government doesn't buy this fucking bullshit stuff, nobody does. Wanna talk about Agricultural Subsidies? Go here:

Pollution from fossil fuels, alone is one type of subsidy, an external cost imposed on people not part of the transaction.

The costs to keep oil flowing from the Middle East? A massive subsidy.

Nuclear power is subsidized with loan guarantees, liability limits through Price Anderson Act and more.

My favorite BS subsidy is the oil depletion allowance. We pay them for every barrel they pump out, on top of depreciation for equipment, etc. Absurd.

As for the cost of fossil fuels, how much do those concerned scientists include for AGW?

As for the cost of the "pollution", could you please itemize so that we can have an idea of whether or not these externalities have already been covered, and, indeed, how plausible they are as unreimbursed externalities.

As for the depletion allowance, how does that differ from depreciation, and can you explain to us why you might think that depreciation (or even depletion) might be a subsidy? (hint - depreciation is the cost of buying plant or equipment spread over multiple years, and depletion is the cost of drilling, less the cost of the equipment (which is depreciated) spread over the cost of the well).

As for the liability cap for nuclear - is it your assertion that claims have not been paid as a result of this cap? Or that the subsidy is not having to have as much insurance because of the cap?

If I sound cynical, I would think that it might be because of the apparent source for the figures.

I read the subject line and before I scrolled to the bottom you read my mind.

Insidious!

"If that's recasting the point of the trip, what was it previously supposed to be about? And whatever the original purpose, why didn't Obama figure out that this would be a good thing to say before the elections?"

The White House refuses to disclose the "real" cost of Obama's Mumbai junket - Robert Gibb's even implying they don't even know, except that the final number won't break down to [exactly] $200,000,000 per day.

And nay does it matter what the real number is to a towering, heavenly figure like Barack! Because to the gods it's mere money.

Who cares how much his trip costs? He is out of the country and I would gladly pay him a million dollars a day (after tax so it would be meaningful) to stay there going hither and thither for the duration.

Tallying up the cost of presidential trips is a game for the bored or stupid amongst us. It is both irrelevant financially and immaterial as an "example" to the American people who have always wanted their president's to impress abroad.

"Probably not since the days of the Pharaohs or the more ludicrous Roman Emperors has a head of state travelled in such pomp and expensive grandeur as the President of the United States of America." - Link

India - "A Diwali weekend should be a perfect, if a bit noisy, break for a president in distress. President Barack Obama, battered at home, badly needs a break. The festive lights, however, might only expose a dubious policy as he winks at his wartime ally, Pakistan, with one face and smiles at his peacetime friend, India, with another. The text of his Delhi visit can be read only in the context of the Obama presidency's biggest foreign policy challenge: Pakistan and Afghanistan. Obama prepared for Delhi by giving Pakistan $2 billion, which means a fresh warehouse of arms." More...